Eating broccoli could prevent osteoarthritis

Researchers believe that eating broccoli could help to prevent osteoarthritis, the most common form of the condition in the UK.

Scientists at the University of East Anglia carried out tests on rats and found that a compound in the cruciferous vegetable called sulforaphane blocked an enzyme that damages cartilage and slowed down its destruction between joints.

The team will now carry out a similar experiment on human volunteers, putting them on a high-broccoli diet for two weeks and then seeing if sulforaphane has travelled to the joints to cause positive changes at a cellular level.

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'If these findings can be replicated in humans, it would be quite a breakthrough,' said Professor Alan Silman of Arthritis Research UK.

Osteoarthritis is caused by a loss of the cartilage at the end of joints and affects more than 8.5 million people in the UK. It is predicted this number will rise sharply over the coming years as the population ages.

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